


Two Stans, Two Fords, a Mabel, and a Dipper

by The Last Speecher (HeidiMelone)



Series: Two Stans, Two Fords, and a Mabel [2]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Gen, Timestuck, timestuck au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-07 05:02:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5444264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeidiMelone/pseuds/The%20Last%20Speecher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a trip to the hospital, Stan recognizes something he'd seen before and the truth finally comes out.  (Continuation of Two Stans, Two Fords, and a Mabel)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Before

Dipper snored a bit from where he was laying.

“King me,” Mabel said proudly, slamming her winning hand on the table. Ford and Fiddleford groaned.

“You do realize that we’re not playing checkers, right?” Ford asked. 

“It’s fun to say.” 

“I’m not short…” Mabel snickered and looked over at where Dipper was sleeping on the floor. None of them really felt the need to move him somewhere else. He seemed fine where he was. She reshuffled the deck. 

“Wanna play again?”

“I don’t know, Mabel, it’s kind of damaging my ego to lose to you this often,” Fiddleford said. Mabel shrugged.

“All right, then. Suit yourself.” They began to clean up.

“How did your brother end up unconscious on the floor again?” Ford asked.

“We were looking for some of those magic flowers that can make you breathe fire. But we ended up on the wrong side of a rude Somnashroom. I managed to get away in time, but Dipper didn’t, and he got a dose of sleep-spores. He’ll wake up eventually.”

“I should probably get him a blanket or something. It’s kind of cold,” Fiddleford said.

“Why am I on the floor?” They turned to look at Dipper, who had just woken up.

“You passed out there.”

“None of you moved me?”

“You seemed comfortable. We didn’t want to wake you if we could avoid it. You never get enough sleep.”

“Fair enough.” Dipper yawned and stretched, then pushed his hair back from his forehead.

“You have a facial tattoo? I admire your tenacity,” Ford said. Dipper frowned.

“Tattoo? What tattoo?”

“The Big Dipper? On your forehead?”

“That’s not a tattoo, it’s a birthmark.”

“Really? Fascinating.”

“Yeah. Twin brother-related anomalies abound,” Dipper said. Mabel rolled her eyes. The phone rang.

“That’s probably Stan,” Ford said, “I’ll get it.” Shermy’s first grandkid was supposed to be born any day now, so Stan had gone down to California to visit them. He picked up the phone.

“Ford, it’s twins,” Stan said without preamble.

“Twins? Really?” 

“Yeah. A boy and a girl.” Stan paused momentarily. “Mabel didn’t mind that I was out of town on her birthday, did she?”

“No, she understands. We had a very relaxed celebration anyways.”

“She take all of your chips in poker again?”

“Yep. So, tell me about our new niece and nephew.”

“They’re the cutest babies ever to have been born. And because they have the same birthday as Mabel, they named the girl after her. I can’t wait to tell our Mabel. This kid is such a fighter! She was born first and socked the doctor that delivered her. The boy, now, you should see him. He’s got one hell of a birthmark on his forehead. Shaped like the Big Dipper. Figured you might be interested in that.” Ford went slack. The phone almost fell out of his hand. “Sixer? You there?” Stan’s voice brought Ford back. He rubbed his face, slightly in shock.

“Yeah, I just need to get some sleep. And you should too, so you can make it Gravity Falls at a decent time tomorrow. Bring back a lot of pictures.”

“No problem. They’re kicking me out now, something about visiting hours being over. Oh, tell Mabel I said happy birthday.” Ford hung up and sat down heavily at the table. Bits and pieces began to connect. Mabel’s refusal to tell them her last name, no matter what they said. Her inexplicable knowledge of what was going to happen. How she looked eerily like a Pines and was similar to Stan and Ford in a hundred different small ways. The little moments during the holidays or her birthday, when she would get a strange look on her face and begin to say something before changing her mind. A memory from many years ago surfaced.

_“He possessed my uncle and got him trapped in a terrible, terrible place.”_

“Oh, God,” Ford said. He covered his mouth in shock. _I was supposed to be trapped between dimensions. For who knows how long._ A tear ran down his face. Not just at the realization that he had narrowly avoided a horrible fate, but that the girl he had helped raise, the girl that he loved like a daughter, had lied to him for almost twenty years. 

“Ford?” Mabel was standing in the entryway, a concerned look on her face. “Everything okay?” Ford tried not to notice that she had the same eyes Stan did. 

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just a bit overworked.” She smiled. 

“Get some sleep. You’ll feel better.”

“I will. Stan wanted me to tell you happy birthday from him.” Mabel gave him a peck on the cheek.

“Fiddleford went back to his place. I’m going to turn in, and Dipper promised to go to bed soon. Sleep well!” 

“You too, sweetheart.” After about half an hour, Dipper stopped by and said good night, accidentally turning off the light when he left. Ford lost track of how long he sat in the darkness.

 

Stan burst through the door. It had taken him longer than he expected to drive back, which was probably partially due to being stopped by the police three times. As such, it was dark out. He almost stepped on Mabel’s weird twin, who was sleeping on the floor in the front room for some reason. Stan sighed and turned on the lights. He was glad he did so, because Mabel was also asleep on the floor. The pig they’d “borrowed” a few years ago was snuggled up against her. 

“Hey, kiddo,” Stan said gently, kneeling next to her and shaking her awake.

“Stan?” Mabel said sleepily. “How was the drive?”

“I only got stopped three times.”

“Nice!” She sat up and stretched, yawning.

“By the way, while I was in California, I picked up some presents, one for you and one for your brother.”

“You didn’t need to,” she said, already opening it. “Oh, wow, these are top-notch brand pastels. Stan, thank you so much!” She gave him a huge hug. Stan chuckled.

“Why were you and Dipper sleeping on the floor?” he asked. “Long day of monster hunting?”

“You know it,” she said cheerfully. “I’ll wake him up so that he can get his present, too.” She shook her brother, and as she did so, Stan saw something familiar that made his heart drop. A birthmark shaped like the Big Dipper. 

Everything instantly made sense. He’d thought Mabel looked familiar when they first met because she had the same eyes Ford did. Bill had possessed her uncle and she had known exactly what was going to happen, even though she was twelve years old. Stan suddenly remembered that she’d never told him her last secret. The one he’d forgotten about over the years. 

“I’m up,” Dipper said, rubbing his eyes. His hair fell back over the birthmark on his forehead. He looked at Stan, who was slack-jawed. “Stan? You all right?”

“How?” he asked quietly. They looked at him, confused. Stan opened his bag and dumped it out. He could pinpoint the exact moment that they saw the picture of the latest additions to the Pines family, a pair of twins, one of which had a birthmark shaped like the Big Dipper.

“That’s you, isn’t it?” Stan asked. He couldn’t decide whether to feel angry, or confused, or disappointed, so he settled for upset. “Isn’t it?” They looked away.

“Yes.” 

“How? How is that possible?” His voice began to get louder. “Mabel, you were twelve in 1982. How could you have been born literally yesterday? And for the love of God, why didn’t you tell me?” Upon seeing Mabel’s tears, he almost stopped. But he reminded himself that he couldn’t let this go. “Mabel, answer me,” he said, ignoring the way his voice broke. 

“I’d like to join this conversation, if you don’t mind.” None of the three had heard Ford come in. He walked over to them and sat on the floor as well. He looked at Dipper. “Stan told me over the phone that our new great-nephew had a birthmark shaped like the Big Dipper. After that, it was easy to connect the dots. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.” 

“Mabel, you’ve avoided telling us who you really were for seventeen years. It’s time to come clean.” Mabel nodded and brushed away her tears. She looked up at her great-uncles. 

“In 2012, Dipper and I were sent to spend the summer with our Grunkle Stan in Oregon,” Mabel began. “But we learned pretty early on that Gravity Falls isn’t what it seems. It all started when Dipper found a journal in the woods…"


	2. During

“Everything will be all right,” Dipper said reassuringly. They were sitting in a coffee shop in Portland. Mabel sighed into her pumpkin spice latte. 

“It’s been six days since we told them. We haven’t really heard much of anything from them. And did you see the way Stan looked at me?”

“He just got some _major_ news. Give him a little while. He’ll get over it.”

“What if it we can’t move past this, though? Why didn’t I tell him? I had plenty of opportunities.” Dipper stirred his Americano and looked down.

“Actually, I’ve been wondering that, too.” His sister was silent. “Mabel?”

“I’m not sure,” she said finally. “I guess, I was focusing on making sure everyone was happy. Telling everyone would have made people upset. I didn’t want to deal with that. And I knew I created an alternate timeline, that if I told them I was from the future and they fixed my time travel thing that I wouldn’t go home. If I told them, all it would do is make people weird around me and I’d still be stuck here.” She frowned at her drink. “By the time I realized they needed to be told, it had been a very long time and I didn’t really want to.” Her eyes widened and she slammed her head down on the table. “Dammit, _that’s_ what I should have said!”

 

**September 1, 1999**

Mabel watched Stan’s face cycle through many emotions as they told their story. Dipper stepped in a few times when her memory failed or she couldn’t figure out how to word something. 

“So I made a small, handheld device that could take me between dimensions, and came after Mabel. But she wanted to stay, so I stayed with her,” Dipper said, finishing their story. A moment passed.

“Stan?” she asked cautiously. 

“Why didn’t you tell us?” he croaked in a broken tone that matched his expression. Mabel’s heart plummeted. 

“I- I don’t know.”

“That’s not a good enough answer.”

“It’s the only one I have.” Stan nodded, stood up, and walked away. Dipper moved, about to go after him. Ford put a gentle hand on his arm. 

“Don’t,” he said softly. They watched him leave. “He just needs some time.”

“And you don’t?”

“I will. But I want to see this device that allowed you to come here, Dipper.” He nodded and left. “Mabel, look at me.” She looked up. Ford was smiling at her. “Thank you.”

“You’re not angry at me?”

“Surprised, certainly. And if I’m being honest, disappointed that you took so long to tell us. But as a scientist, I can look past that, at least for now, to recognize the gift you’ve given us. I can’t imagine how awful it must have been, leaving everything behind to stay thirty years in the past with your great-uncles and an old prospector.” He pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, sweetheart.” Footsteps approached. Mabel broke off the hug and looked up eagerly, hoping it was Stan, but it was her brother.

“Here you go, Ford.” He handed it over and sat next to his sister. He patted her on the back awkwardly.

“Hmm, this is definitely something that I helped to create.” Ford turned it over in his hands. A few moments passed before he remembered they were there. “Mabel,” he said, setting the device next to him, “there’s no need to worry. Stan will get over it.” 

“What about you?”

“I’m going to need some time as well to come to terms with the fact that the street kid my twin brother found and adopted was actually my great-niece from thirty years in the future.” Mabel and Dipper shifted uncomfortably. “As such, it would behoove you to-”

“I thought we agreed you would stop saying ‘behoove’ so much.”

“As such, it would be best if you took a break for a little while.” Mabel and Dipper’s mouths dropped open.

“Are you kicking us out?” they asked in unison.

“No, of course not. I just think it would be best if you gave us some space to let things sink in.”

“We have been planning on investigating those reports of weird happenings upstate,” Mabel said softly. “Is it okay if we check it out on our own?” Ford nodded.

“That sounds perfect, dear. It’s rainy in Portland, so be sure to bring plenty of rain gear. Oh, and the mobile phone I developed for you.” 

“Definitely just a cell phone, Ford,” Dipper said.

“Call it whatever you want as long as you bring it. Check in every night to let us know how things are going.”

“So, the usual.”

“Yes. And we will let you know when things will be back to normal.”

“I don’t think things will ever be back to normal,” Dipper said quietly. Mabel spoke up suddenly, her voice louder than it had been a few minutes ago.

“No, not the normal we knew yesterday. A new normal, one that will be better than before.” She smiled weakly at Ford. “This was a secret I should have told years ago. Now that it’s finally out in the open, now that everyone is on the same page, things will be better.” She looked at Dipper. “Like when you told Wendy you had a crush on her.” He blushed bright red.

“Did you really need to bring that up?”

“Yes.” She could feel herself brightening. A weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She tried to shrug off the feeling that, maybe, things might not be okay.

“We should go pack,” Dipper said. 

“Yeah.” Dipper stood up and left. She stayed.

“Ford, do you think everything will work out?” she asked. “Stan was so angry.”

“Give him time. He loves you more than life itself. He’ll work through this.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m positive. Now, go pack. Portland is waiting for you.” She nodded and stood up. “Oh, but you need to tell Fiddleford before you leave.” Mabel sighed heavily.

“Of course I do,” she said as she walked away.

 

“Mabel, Dipper, how are ya?” Fiddleford asked the moment he opened the door. “Come in, come in! Ford said you were heading out to Portland to look into those reports of abnormalities.” They followed him into the kitchen.

“Yeah, we’re going alone.”

“Alone? Do you need someone to come with ya? I’d hate for anything to happen to the two of you.”

“No, we’ll be fine,” Mabel said. “And don’t you have a deadline coming up for your project?”

“Deadlines can be pushed back. Family can’t.” Mabel swallowed. “Anyways, Ford said you had something to tell me?”

“Yes.” She stared at her hands intently, trying to figure out the best way to tell him. “Fidds, my name is Mabel Pines.”

“I knew that. We gave ya Stan’s last name, ‘cause he found you.”

“It was my last name before.” She looked directly at him, her brown eyes staring into his blue ones. She could pinpoint the exact moment he realized who she really was.

“He’s your grunkle,” Fiddleford whispered, stricken.

“How- how do you know that word?”

“On your 21st birthday, you called Stan your grunkle, said it was short for great-uncle. I just assumed it was drunk people bein’ drunk. But it was drunk people bein’ more honest than sober ones.” Mabel could hear his southern accent getting stronger and more prominent as he talked. It was one of the more subtle ways you tell he was upset. 

“Fidds, I’m sorry.”

“So, what, you time traveled?”

“Yes,” Mabel said, feeling terrible. Even though he’d never made a memory eraser in this timeline, he was still mentally delicate. Fiddleford reached out blindly for the chair next to him. Once he grasped it, he sat down shakily and put his head in his hands. “This makes so much sense, it’s terrifyin’, it is.”

“Do you want me to tell you my story, about why I came here and everything?” she asked. He shook his head. “Do you have any questions for me?” He shook his head. “Do you need me to do anything for you?”

“Leave,” he whispered. She nodded, holding back tears, and turned to her brother.

“Come on, Dipper.” Before she closed the door behind her, she looked back at Fiddleford. He was still in the kitchen, staring at the wall in front of him. “Fidds, please call Ford if you have any questions or anything, okay? Actually, just, call him after we leave, will you? He can take care of you.” He nodded. “I love you, Fiddleford.” He nodded and moved his lips, as though saying he loved her, too. She closed the door.

 

**September 8, 1999**

“Dipper, can I say something terrible?” His sister’s voice shook him out of his reverie.

“What?”

“Maybe I made the wrong choice, staying here.”

“Mabel…”

“I mean, things worked out well and I do believe I made the right choice for that moment, but maybe I should have gone back with you later, y’know, after saying goodbye and junk.” Dipper was silent. “I know, it’s an awful thing to say.”

“It’s not that. Mabel, there wasn’t really a chance to make a different choice in the first place.”

“What do you mean?”

“Great Uncle Ford and I developed a machine that could take one person between realities, with no negative side effects, for one trip. We couldn’t get the energy source to power more than one jump. I came here fully prepared to stay for a few years, developing another device, if you wanted to leave. But I was expecting that you wouldn’t or couldn’t come back. Which is what happened.”

“You were planning on leaving your life behind? I thought you seemed awfully calm about the whole thing. But why did you make the jump if you knew you couldn’t go back?”

“I spent years on a one-way trip. I wanted to see you again, and I didn’t want to wait any longer.” The cellphone Ford had developed rang. She picked it up immediately.

“Mabel.” Her breath caught. She knew exactly who it was. 

“Stan, I’m sorry.” The words tumbled out of her. “I should have told you years ago. I’m so, so sorry.”

“For what? As I understand it, you sacrificed your home, your life, for me and my brother. And Fiddleford.”

“Stan, I-”

“We should have this conversation in person. Come home, okay, sweetheart?”


	3. After

Mabel closed the door of Dipper’s truck and turned to face the shack. She waited until she heard Dipper close his door, then they walked toward the shack together.

“Do you have the things?” she asked him.

“Of course I do. They’re in this bag,” he said, showing her by lifting the plastic shopping bag in his left hand.

“Good.” Not only had they brought back some samples involving the anomaly, but they had bought a gift for each of Mabel’s legal guardians. “Nothing soothes like souvenirs.”

“Did Stan teach you that?”

“Your point being?” Mabel reached out to open the door, but it slammed open before she touched the handle.

“Mabel!” Stan wrapped her up in a giant bear hug.

“Oof! Stan, I can’t breathe!” 

“Sorry, sweetie.” He let go and smiled at her. “I’m just so proud of you.”

“You’re- you’re not angry?”

“At first, I didn’t know what to feel, other than upset. But now that I’ve had some time to think, I can’t believe what an amazing young lady you are. Since you were twelve years old, you’ve been incredible. I mean, the sacrifices you made. All for me, my brother, and Fiddleford.” He gave her another hug, more gently this time. “Thank you, Mabel.” 

“Is that Mabel and Dipper?” a voice called from inside.

“Yeah!” Stan shouted back. “Come on, kids, you’ve still got a report to give to the nerds about what you found in Portland.” Mabel and Dipper followed him inside.

“Oh, that? Turns out a witch coven was making designer coffee and selling it at exorbitantly high prices.” Ford and Fiddleford were sitting at the table in the living room, blueprints and some very thick books open in front of them.

“Really?” Ford asked. “That doesn’t seem like a problem.”

“It wouldn’t be, but they didn’t wash their cauldron in between making potions and making coffee,” Mabel said, plopping down on the couch. “We managed to convince them to be more sanitary, but it took more hipsters turning into pelicans than you’d expect.” Fiddleford chuckled softly. “Dipper and I brought back some samples of their concoctions, and some gifts for you guys.”

“You didn’t need to,” Fiddleford said with a smile. Mabel was happy that he seemed better than when she’d last seen him.

“No, no, we insist,” Dipper said, handing the samples to the two scientists and giving everyone their gifts. 

“Why do you always get me a shot glass?” Stan asked, sitting down in the armchair. “I don’t even do shots.”

“I’m trying to get you started.”

“Please don’t.”

“Why, because last time you got wasted you told me you used to be a stripper?” Mabel asked, a wicked gleam in her eyes. Dipper’s mouth dropped open.

“Wait, really?” Laughter filled the shack in a way it hadn’t for a week. Mabel had been right. Things weren’t the way they were before. They were better.

 

Everyone ended up apologizing at some point. Mabel and Dipper apologized for not explaining who they really were, and Stan, Ford, and Fiddleford apologized for the way they reacted when they found out. After a few hours, things wound down, and a comfortable silence fell, which was eventually broken by a question from Fiddleford.

“You went thirteen years without talking to your twin brother. Was it really worth it?”

“Of course it was!” Mabel responded immediately. “In our original reality, Stanley and Stanford spent thirty years apart. What we went through wasn’t even half of that.” She looked over at her brother and grinned. “I guess you were right, bro-bro. We _didn’t_ get stupid like them.” Dipper rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know, I mean, the way we got separated involved a fight and a weird sci-fi thing.”

“History repeats itself,” Mabel said solemnly. She punched him jovially on the shoulder. “Chill, bro.”

“Actually, speaking of your, ah, predicament,” Ford said uncomfortably. They looked at him. “Aside from the obvious one, there’s another reason as to why I wish you’d told us sooner.” He took off his glasses and polished them with his shirt. “The issue of you meeting your alternate reality doppelgangers.” He put his glasses back on.

“I mean, yeah, that would be pretty weird and all, but is it really that big of a deal?” Dipper asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Given that it could create a temporal paradox, yes.” The blood drained from Mabel and Dipper’s faces.

“Shit,” Mabel whispered. “I didn’t think of that.”

“Watch your language, young lady,” Stan barked from the other room. He had wandered into the kitchen a little while back, claiming he was going to make dinner. 

“Stan, you dropped the F-bomb in front of me when I was twelve. You have no right to criticize me about swearing. Also, I’m almost thirty! Chill!” Mabel shouted back.

“How do we prevent the temporal paradox from happening?” Dipper asked.

“Never meet the versions of you from an alternate reality,” Ford said, shrugging expressively. “Should be simple enough, especially once you two go back home.”

“Um, what?” Mabel asked warily. Ford sighed. 

“We don’t have the right to keep you here, somewhere you don’t belong. You should go back to your home dimension. As such, Fiddleford and I are working on fixing the device, to send you back.”

“What?!” Mabel shouted. 

“Look, Mabel, I know you’re upset, but we all agreed, this was the best way to do things.”

“You may have agreed, but you never asked me!”

“Sweetheart, you gave us some of the best years of your life. You should spend the rest of it where and when you belong. The 2010s in Dimension 42’\\. I mean, you had a far better relationship with your parents than Stan and I did with ours, but you haven’t seen them in almost twenty years!”

 

**September 13, 1994**

“What did you tell Mom and Dad?” Mabel asked, taking the kettle off the stove. It was a bright, crisp morning and she and her brother were the only people up. In short, the perfect time to finally ask him a question she’d wondered for thirteen years. Dipper shrugged.

“The truth.”

“Did they believe you?” He held out his mug and she poured tea into it. She was still a fan of Mabel Juice, and Dipper preferred coffee, but Stan didn’t let it in the house anymore. Fidds had a bit of an adverse reaction to coffee, and no matter where they kept it hidden, he always found it and would make about thirteen cups.

“Of course not.”

“So what did they do?” Mabel set the kettle back down and took a seat at the table.

“Called Grunkle Stan. And Great Uncle Ford was the one who picked up.”

“Oh, wow.” Mabel began to coat her toast with various jams. Dipper took a sip of tea and made a face.

“Actually, um, I have something for you.” Mabel looked up from her breakfast.

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He reached into the bag that he never let leave his side and pulled out something she didn’t think she’d ever see again. She snatched it quickly from him. He chuckled.

“My scrapbook!” Mabel flipped through the familiar pages, blinking in surprise when the pictures continued past the pages she had decorated. “You guys filled the entire thing,” she whispered.

“Mom and Dad say hi. And…they love you.” Mabel nodded, sniffling, and decided. She would tell Stan, Ford, and Fidds the truth. Tonight.

 

**September 8, 1999**

“Don’t you want to see them again?”

“Well, yeah,” Mabel said, “but not if it means leaving all of you behind. I don’t want to sacrifice one reality for another. Not again.” 

“You- you really wanna stay, sweetie?” Stan asked cautiously, coming out of the kitchen, wearing oven mitts Mabel had knitted for him years ago.

“Of course! You guys raised me. I can’t abandon you.” She ran forward and gave him an enormous hug. Stan ruffled her hair, which was difficult, as she was taller than he was now. He looked at his brother.

“Ford, I don’t think that this is the right answer.” Dipper shook his head.

“Not even close.”

“But-” Ford said, distressed. He looked around anxiously and took a deep breath. “Okay, we won’t do that. I still don’t feel right this, though. You deserve more than years of no interaction from your home dimension.” Mabel broke off her hug with Stan, a thoughtful look on her face.

“Here we go,” Dipper muttered, recognizing what that look meant. 

“I think there’s a better option than this ‘you must abandon the place you’ve lived in for almost two decades’ nonsense,” she said. She walked over to Ford and whispered something in his ear.

“Sweetie, that’s a lovely idea, but I don’t know if it’s possible,” Ford said. 

“What? Am I really talking to Stanford Filbrick Pines?” Mabel asked, her hands on her hips. “The man who changed the world, who defeated a triangular dream demon?”

“I didn’t defeat him.”

“You survived a deal with him, which is pretty damn impressive.” Stan made a small sound when she swore, but didn’t say anything. “Anyways, you’ve got Fiddleford and Dipper and me to help.” She looked back at her grunkle. “And Stan, of course.” Stan grunted when she said his name. After a moment, Ford nodded, a twinkle in his eyes.

“Well, I could certainly try,” he said slowly. “I’ll see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises.”

“You don’t need to. I know you can do it.” Ford smiled at her. As always, her confidence in him filled him with determination.

“Thank you, Mabel.” 

 

**January 1, 2000**

“Happy New Year!” The shack was filled by the voices of four Pines and one McGucket welcoming in the new millennium. Mabel and Fidds sang “Auld Lang Syne”, which was playing from the crappy radio they needed to replace. Dipper sang along as well, at least for the words he knew. Stan grabbed his twin in a one-armed side hug.

“Told ya Y2K wasn’t something you needed to worry about,” he said teasingly. “The world didn’t end! We’re still here.” Ford laughed and hugged his brother back. 

“Happy New Year, Stanley.”

“We’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne,” Dipper, Mabel, and Fiddleford sang at varying volumes and musical abilities, finishing the song. They laughed and embraced each other. 

“What are you guys doing over there?” Mabel asked, looking at Stan and Ford. “Get in on this!” Smiling, the older Pines twins joined in on the group hug. After a few moments, Dipper spoke, his voice muffled by the people surrounding him.

“I’m going to suffocate if we don’t stop soon.” They broke apart. Stan gave Dipper a hearty pat on the back. 

“Happy 2000, kid,” he said.

“Thanks, Stan.” Ford cleared his throat. 

“Fiddleford and I have something for the two of you. Think of it as a late Hanukkah gift.”

“I was wondering why we only got seven presents,” Mabel said jokingly, elbowing her brother. Ford chuckled.

“Yes, well, we were hoping to have it ready for you on the last night, but we couldn’t quite finish it by then.” Mabel and Dipper tilted their heads in sync, the same curious look on their faces. Ford reached up to the shelf next to him and pulled a small box from behind a decorative statue of a gargoyle.

“Here,” he said kindly, handing it to the twins. They stared at it. It was wrapped very neatly in blue paper, with a crisp white bow on top. It was unassuming, but they both could somehow tell that it was far more important than it looked. “Open it,” he urged them. 

“On three,” Mabel said to Dipper. “One, two, three!” They unwrapped it together. It was a box resembling those that fancy jewelry was kept in. With a shaking hand, Mabel opened it and gasped. Somehow, it was the broken time travel device that had taken her here, revamped with the one Dipper had used. No one would mistake this for a tape measure. She took it out of the box.

“It took quite some figuring out, looking back at our old portal designs, and examining Dipper’s device, but that should take you back home. And then back here.” Mabel looked up at him, her eyes watery.

“How?” She glanced at her brother. “Dipper, did you know about this?”

“I knew they were going to try something, and they consulted me a couple times, but I didn’t know they had actually built it.” She hefted it in her hand. It was surprisingly heavy, slightly warm, and buzzed gently. 

“You fixed the power source, then?” she asked.

“Well, as best we could,” Fiddleford said. “This should last ya for at least five jumps, but after then you’ll need to replace the power source. It’s not perfect, but we did the best we could and we’ll keep workin’ on it.” Anything else he was going to say was cut off as Mabel hugged him. Dipper hugged Ford. 

“Thank you,” they whispered. Fiddleford and Ford smiled at them and then at each other. 

“You know, if you wanted to test it out, we, uh, we wouldn’t hold it against ya,” Fiddleford said finally. The twins’ eyes widened. 

“R-really?” Dipper stammered.

“Well, sure! We figured you’d want to head out right away, actually, so we may or may not have packed ya some bags.” He gestured to a pair of duffel bags sitting next to the armchair Stan had slept in his first night in Gravity Falls, seventeen years ago. 

“Those nerds didn’t do any packing. I was the one who did it,” Stan grumbled, his arms crossed. Mabel giggled and Stan’s expression softened. “Here you go, kiddos.” He handed the bags to them. They looked at each other eagerly. Stan hadn’t seen Mabel this excited or happy since Dipper had come to this reality. Stan cleared his throat. The younger pair of twins looked at him.

“I’ll be back, Stan,” Mabel said gently. He nodded, his eyes watery. He engulfed her in an embrace like the one he’d given her when he first dropped her off at college.

“I know you will, pumpkin.” After a minute or two, Mabel broke off the hug, wiped away her tears, and looked at her brother. Dipper nodded. She pulled out the tape measure. It snapped back.

The world disappeared in a flash of light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all she wrote, folks! I have a short fic in the works that takes place in this AU, but the main story ends here. Thanks for all your support and encouragement.  
> If you have questions about this AU or things related to it, feel free message me at thelastspeecher.tumblr.com or leave a comment below.  
> Take care!


End file.
